Promoting Early Childhood Outcomes Through a Systems-

focus on QualityA Dialogue with Arizona & Iowa

Early Childhood Outcomes ConferenceBaltimore, MD

ECO & Program Quality

The influence of state contexts Specific efforts

Systemic integrationUse of dataCapacity building

US Department of Health & Human

Services

US Department of Education

Head Start Grant Recipients

AZ Department of Economic

Security

AZ Department of Health Services

Child Care Programs

(Centers & Regulated Homes)

School District Preschool Programs

AZ Department of Education

ECE Fragmentation in AZ

AZ Early Intervention Program

Office of Head Start

Child Care Bureau

Funding Streams

Regulatory Authority

Tentative Connections

OSERS/OSEP OESE

Nagasawa, N.D.

Where we hope to be in Arizona

• “First Things First”• Smart Start inspired• Year One

Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board, 2008

Iowa’s Approach

SPP Activities for ECO Include Alignment with…

Quality Preschool Program StandardsCurriculumAssessment of Child Progress

Iowa’s Early Learning Standards

Where We Started…

Early Childhood Iowa: State ContextSupport an Early Care, Health and

Education System Iowa Department of Education

Assure quality early childhood education

Contribute to an early care, health and education system

Early Childhood Iowa Alliance of stakeholders in early care, health &

education

• “Children Ready to Succeed in School”

http://www.state.ia.us/earlychildhood/index.html

State Board of Education• “All children will enter school ready to learn.”

Iowa Department of Education• “All children will enter school ready to learn.”

http://www.iowa.gov/educate/

Early Childhood Education: One of Iowa’s Priorities

Iowa’s Quality ECSE StudySpring 2005

Randomly Selected EC and ECSE Settings50 early childhood classrooms 50 early childhood special education

classrooms Findings

42% of teachers did not use a curriculum;Majority of teachers did not use a

comprehensive, evidence-based assessment tool; and

Over 10% of teachers only form of monitoring children’s progress related to IEP.

The Essential Question

Are students with disabilities entering school ready to learn at high levels?

Stars Lining Up…DE Early Childhood Services Bureau

Federally Funded Programs: Early ACCESS (Part C) Lead Agency Early Childhood Special Education Even Start Head Start Collaboration Project Office

State Funded Programs: Community Empowerment Liaison Voluntary Preschool for 4-Year-Old Children Shared Visions – Family Support and Preschool Programs

for Children At-Risk

Quality

Program

Standards

Early

Learning

Standards

Professional

Development

Community

Collaboration

Iowa’s early childhood education system integrates these four strategies.

Early Childhood Education

Very Similar Foci in AZ

Early Learning Standards

Collaboration/Systems Integration

Monitoring & Quality Validation

Program Standards

Professional Development

Another Way to Look At It

Early Learning Standards

Monitoring &Quality

Validation

CHILD OUTCOMES

Program Standards

Professional Development

ProfessionalDevelopment

Iowa’s Quality Preschool Program Standards (QPPS)

1. Relationships

2. Curriculum

3. Teaching

4. Assessment of Child Progress

5. Health

6. Teachers

7. Families

8. Community Relationships

9. Physical Environment

10. Leadership & Management

In Arizona

Staff Qualifications Operations Cultural and linguistic

congruence Family involvement Staff development Program evaluation Transitions Health Nutrition Social Services Collaboration Assessment Resources

Iowa’s Early Learning Standards Birth-Five

Physical Well-Being & Motor Development

Approaches To Learning Social & Emotional Development Communication, Language & Literacy Mathematics and Science Creative Arts

Early Learning Standards Side by SideIowa Physical Well-Being

& Motor Development

Approaches To Learning

Social & Emotional Development

Communication, Language & Literacy

Mathematics and Science

Creative Arts

Arizona (Ages 3-5) Social Emotional Language & Literacy Mathematics Science Social Studies Physical

Development, Health & Safety

Fine Arts

STRAND 2: SOCIAL INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS - CONTINUED

AZ EARLY LEARNING STANDARD HEAD START CHILD OUTCOME AZ KINDERGARTEN STANDARD

Cooperation Social & Emotional Development Comprehensive Health

Responds when adults or other children initiate interactions.Initiates and sustains positive interactions with adults and friends.

Develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games or using materials, and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.Shows progress in developing friendships with peers.

Identify characteristics of attentive listening skills that build and maintain healthy relationships.Share space and equipment with others.

Demonstrates positive ways to resolve conflict.

Show increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing and resolving conflicts with peers.

Differentiate between negative and positive behaviors used in conflict situations.Demonstrate nonviolent strategies to resolve conflict.

STRAND 3: RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELF AND OTHERS

Self-Control Social & Emotional Development Comprehensive Health

Understands and follows rules in the learning environment.Adjusts behavior for alternate activities and in different settings of the learning environment.

Apply, with teacher reinforcement, classroom rules and procedures and safe practices.

Accepts the consequences of actions positive or negative.

Develops growing understanding of how their actions affect others and begins to accept the consequences of their actions.

ECO AREA ALIGNMENT WITH IOWA’S EARLY LEARNING STANDARDS

CONVERSATION STARTERSUse these questions to guide the IEP Team’s discussion of the child’s performance for each area of the Early Childhood Outcomes. These questions are NOT designed to be a checklist of performance but to help the team understand what information about the child’s skills and behaviors, across settings and situations, relates to each of the Early Childhood Outcome areas. These questions can also provide a way to focus the team’s discussion.

Children have positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships).

INFANT AND TODDLER Standards:3.1 Display a positive awareness of self.3.2 Show increasing awareness of and ability to express emotions in socially and culturally appropriate ways.3.3 Develop and maintain positive relationships with significant caregivers.3.4 Respond to and initiate interactions with other children.3.5 Demonstrate a sense of comfort within their family, program, community and culture.

PRESCHOOL Standards:9.1 Express a positive awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics and preferences.9.2 Show increasing ability to regulate behavior and express their emotions in appropriate ways.9.3 Relate positively to caregivers who work with them.9.4 Develop the ability to interact with peers respectfully and to form positive peer relationships.9.5 Have an increasing awareness of belonging to a family, community, culture and program.

Think about relating to adults and children; and following rules related to groups or interacting with others.How does the child display his/her emotions?In what situations and ways does the child express delight or display affection?How does the child read and react to the emotions and expressions of others?Does the child display an awareness of rules and expectations? How? Does the child behave differently in different contexts (e.g., quieter in church, more active outside)?In the child’s interactions, are there behaviors that may interfere with relationships or seem inappropriate in interactions expected of the child’s age (e.g., screaming, biting, and tantrums)? How often does this occur? In what situations does it occur/not occur?How does the child display awareness of routines? How does the child respond to transitions in routines or activities? Are the child’s actions different from familiar transitions versus new transitions or different across settings or with different people?How does the child relate to his/her parents and with familiar caregivers (e.g., child care provider)?How does the child interact with other children in various settings and situations (e.g., at child care, preschool, park, stores, etc.)?How and in what situations does the child interact with others in mutual activities (e.g., joint attention, communicate to convey desire to engage, initiate interaction or play, participate in games)?How does the child interact with/respond to people in community settings (e.g. park, library, grocery store, church, restaurants, etc.)?How would you expect other children of this age to act in various settings and situations?

Professional DevelopmentFocuses on Quality Improvement

Target Audience EC/ECSE personnel providing early childhood special

education services

Areas of Emphasis Quality Preschool Program Standards (QPPS) Iowa Early Learning Standards (IELS) Early Childhood Outcomes (ECO) Curriculum and Child Assessment (e.g. Creative Curriculum

and Developmental Continuum Assessment)

Outcomes of Professional Development Implement research-based program standards, curriculum and

assessment of child progress Enhance children’s developmental skills Ensure children are progressing toward positive early childhood

outcomes

•10 Area Education Agencies (AEA) – regional service agencies•365 Districts

AEA Will: Preschool Program Will: DE Consultants Will:

Build capacity of programs to implement each standard and criteria

Learn about QPPS Standards and their relationship to quality programming in

Early Childhood/ Early Childhood Special Education

Provide guidance on QPPS implementation

Emphasize understanding of the standards and criteria

Register for the self-study process with the Department of Education

Provide guidance on selection of evidence for QPPS portfolios

Provide guidance in deciding types of evidence for QPPS portfolios

Complete the QPPS self-assessment, one per classroom

Provide regional professional development on curriculum and assessment

Provide technical assistance and follow-up support to districts

Prioritize needs and develop and implement the quality improvement plan

Provide support and guidance in year one, and conduct a Verification Visit in year two

Prepare to demonstrate evidence that each standard is being met during the DE

Verification Visit

Provide technical assistance to AEA

Implementation is a Collaborative Effort!

Ongoing Progress Monitoring Training Built on 2 years of

standards training Foundational skills Training of trainers Professional learning

communities Every other week for

six weeks Initial year, N=30

district teams Other existing

meetings & conferences

The Early Childhood Quality Improvement Process (ECQUIP)

Statewide training – 2 years

Horizontal & vertical alignment

Monitoring: Have tos (compliance)

Validation: Want tos (quality)

Alignment with K-12

School Improvement Standards School and District Leadership Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development Classroom and School Assessments School Culture, Climate and Communication

State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG)

RTI Self-assessment process Use of ECE data Kindergarten transition plans

Standard 1: SCHOOL AND DISTRICT LEADERSHIP

Indicators

1.1 Leadership has led an inclusive process of developing a sustained and shared vision and mission as well as a written philosophy that is the basis for program planning, implementation, evaluation and modification.

1.2 The Leadership meets regularly with the early education staff to formulate, review, or revise the ECQUIP process/plan.

1.3 Leadership promotes and sustains continuous school improvement by providing organizational structure, allocating funding, monitoring the use of resources (e.g., fiscal, professional development, planning time).

1.4 Leadership ensures systems are in place to monitor the integrity and accuracy of child assessment data collected and reported by the program.

1.5 Leadership provides and supports professional development opportunities for early education program staff to strengthen their competencies in planning and implementing appropriate and effective educational programs for young children. Staff are committed to long-term professional growth that is continuous and job-embedded

Standard 1: School and District LeadershipThe district and school leadership focuses on improved student achievement by using the results from the ECQUIP process to assess the effectiveness of program management practices as the basis for improvement.

Indicators

Levels of Performance Suggested Evidence3

Exceeds2

Meets1

Approaches0

Falls Far Below

1.4 Leadership ensures systems are in place to monitor the integrity and accuracy of child assessment data collected and reported by the program.

*Leadership randomly reviews the child assessment data collected by Program Personnel

*Leadership ensures the accuracy of assessment information collected and reported through the in class review of assessment related data (portfolio’s, work sampling, observations etc)

*The Leadership has a written plan outlining its system for assuring the accuracy of data collected and reported by the program

*The program has a formal process for data collection and reporting

*Leadership has selected an assessment plan but has not formalized a process for data collection or reporting

*Assessment data is collected and reported but no evidence is found for a process to ensure the integrity of the data

*Data collection and reporting occurs irregularly

*Data collection and reporting does not occur

*Interview Administration (specifically on staff assessment training and process used to ensure the integrity and accuracy of assessment)*Interview Program Personnel (specifically on assessment training)*Review sign in sheets for staff training on assessment (if applicable)*Review staff Professional Development information particularly certificates for assessment training (if applicable)*Review Child Portfolio collections*Review child assessment scores*Additional evidence found

Telling the Story of ECE in AZ

Monitoring and reporting State & local program evaluation State Quality Improvement Rating

System: Alignment of ECQUIP & Program Standards

Strategic communications

For More Information

Iowa’s Early Childhood Standards:http://www.iowa.gov/educate/content/view/681/805/

Early Childhood Special Education:http://www.iowa.gov/educate/content/view/631/594/

State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Reports:http://www.iowa.gov/educate/content/category/22/552/592/

Contact Dee Gethmann, 619 Coordinator Dee.Gethmann@iowa.gov or 515.281.5502

For More Information

Arizona Early Learning Standardshttp://www.ade.az.gov/earlychildhood/downloads/EarlyLearningStandards.pdf

Guidelines for Comprehensive Early Childhood Programshttp://www.ade.az.gov/Guidelines/EarlyChildhood/

Early Childhood Quality Improvement Practices http://www.ade.az.gov/earlychildhood/ECQUIP/

Contact Valerie Andrews-James, 619 Coordinatorvalerie.james@azed.gov or 602.364.1948